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UNDP Chile launches the State of Democracy Report: more and enhanced democracy for a more inclusive Chile

State of Democracy  Chile

The State of Democracy Report examines the Chilean democracy in its various dimensions, providing a baseline to assess the gap between the existing norms and legal frameworks with their actual implementation as well as in relation to citizens’ perceptions and expectations.

The report covers the last two decades since Chile return to democracy in 1990 until the present. During this period the country has received wide recognition for advancing a stable and solid electoral democracy and strengthening democratic governance which has allowed economic growth and improved human development of its populations.The report reveals that although elections are periodic, free and the results are widely accepted by the population, these accomplishments are not even when considering all dimensions of democracy. There is increasing citizen dissatisfaction with formal political institutions and public trust in the political parties and Congress has dropped among the highest in Latin America. While 71% of citizens support democracy as the best form of government, only 41% of the people consider that it functions optimally.  The drop of 35 percentile in electoral participation in the 24 years is among the highest in the OECD and the Americas.

The report used the methodology developed by IDEA International´s (State of Democracy Assessments) and UNDP work on Governance Assessments globally and it is structured around three main sections: I) Citizenship, Legislation and Rights; II) Participation and Representation; and III) Governance, the State and Democracy. In this last section, one chapter is dedicated to the issue of public integrity, providing an in-depth assessment of the last two decades. Some of the most relevant findings in this chapter are:

  1. Chile is one of the countries better positioned both in Latin America and in the world in regards to low levels of corruption. The report documents vast efforts to strengthen the normative frameworks and institutional capacities to foster public integrity. Some of the key advances are the adoption of the Access to Information Law;  the creation of an autonomous Council for Transparency and  the efforts made to comply with the Inter American Convention against Corruption as well as the United Nations Convention against corruption (UNCAC).
  2. On the other hand, the report examined citizens’ perception regarding issues of transparency, access to information, corruption, and integrity, finding that there is a wide gap between the normative framework, formal indicators and people´s opinions: the public’s perception on the prevalence of corruption is much higher than documented incidents.

The chapter on public integrity identifies some of the key challenges that need to be addressed for the country to continue strengthening its institutional capacities on anti-corruption.

Download the report in Spanish at: auditoriaalademocracia.org

Contributed by Marcela Rios and Rocio Noriega, UNDP Chile

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UNDP Chile launches the State of Democracy Report: more and enhanced democracy for a more inclusive Chile (2)

State of Democracy  Chile

The State of Democracy Report examines the Chilean democracy in its various dimensions, providing a baseline to assess the gap between the existing norms and legal frameworks with their actual implementation as well as in relation to citizens’ perceptions and expectations.

The report covers the last two decades since Chile return to democracy in 1990 until the present. During this period the country has received wide recognition for advancing a stable and solid electoral democracy and strengthening democratic governance which has allowed economic growth and improved human development of its populations.The report reveals that although elections are periodic, free and the results are widely accepted by the population, these accomplishments are not even when considering all dimensions of democracy. There is increasing citizen dissatisfaction with formal political institutions and public trust in the political parties and Congress has dropped among the highest in Latin America. While 71% of citizens support democracy as the best form of government, only 41% of the people consider that it functions optimally.  The drop of 35 percentile in electoral participation in the 24 years is among the highest in the OECD and the Americas.

The report used the methodology developed by IDEA International´s (State of Democracy Assessments) and UNDP work on Governance Assessments globally and it is structured around three main sections: I) Citizenship, Legislation and Rights; II) Participation and Representation; and III) Governance, the State and Democracy. In this last section, one chapter is dedicated to the issue of public integrity, providing an in-depth assessment of the last two decades. Some of the most relevant findings in this chapter are:

  1. Chile is one of the countries better positioned both in Latin America and in the world in regards to low levels of corruption. The report documents vast efforts to strengthen the normative frameworks and institutional capacities to foster public integrity. Some of the key advances are the adoption of the Access to Information Law;  the creation of an autonomous Council for Transparency and  the efforts made to comply with the Inter American Convention against Corruption as well as the United Nations Convention against corruption (UNCAC).
  2. On the other hand, the report examined citizens’ perception regarding issues of transparency, access to information, corruption, and integrity, finding that there is a wide gap between the normative framework, formal indicators and people´s opinions: the public’s perception on the prevalence of corruption is much higher than documented incidents.

The chapter on public integrity identifies some of the key challenges that need to be addressed for the country to continue strengthening its institutional capacities on anti-corruption.

Download the report in Spanish at: auditoriaalademocracia.org

Contributed by Marcela Rios and Rocio Noriega, UNDP Chile

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Bangladesh anti-graft body offers joint action with UNODC to end corruption

Bangladesh’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has made an offer to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) to work jointly to end corruption. Chairman NAB Qamar Zaman Chaudhry made this offer when a two-member UNODC delegation, headed by headed by Mr. Collie Brown, UNODC Advisor for Criminal Justice, called on him at NAB headquarters. Short-term goals discussed at the meeting included holding a national dialogue on anti-corruption in 2014.

Read the story in The News International.

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Bosnia: NGO, government officials convene for whistleblowing conference

Civil society and government representatives gathered in Sarajevo May 29-30 for a whistleblowing conference focused on government accountability and corruption reporting. “Authority and Ethics: Ethical Institutional Management and Internal Handling of Complaints and Corruption” featured panelists from the United Nations, United States Embassy, and representatives from Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian ministries. Organizers were the Center for Responsible Democracy (COD Luna), the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APIK), the Anti-Corruption Network (Account), and the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Read the story by Ana Baric in Hetq Online.

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London Stock Exchange joins UN Sustainable Stock Exchange initiative

London Stock Exchange Group has joined the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative as a Partner Exchange. The platform aims to provide an effective peer-to-peer dialogue among global exchanges, encouraging sustainable investment, while enhancing corporate transparency on environmental, social and corporate governance issues.

The SSE initiative was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York in 2009 and has nine Partner Exchanges around the world. LSEG will become the 10th Partner Exchange. The creation of SSE has provided stock exchanges with an opportunity to play an important leadership role in promoting sustainable business practices.

Mark Makepeace, Group Director of Information Services, London Stock Exchange Group, said “This is about supporting stable global long-term economic growth. We are therefore delighted to join the UN SSE initiative as a Partner Exchange and we look forward to collaborating on important sustainability themes with the UN and peer exchanges around the world.”

“By joining the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, London Stock Exchange Group commits to a renewed effort to engage in dialogue with key capital market stakeholders to raise the level of best practice,” said Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD. “Together, we can promote markets where market-signals and sustainability priorities are in alignment, not conflict.”

Read the story in Automated Trader.